הַקָּהָ֕ל חֻקָּ֥ה אַחַ֛ת לָכֶ֖ם וְלַגֵּ֣ר הַגָּ֑ר חֻקַּ֤ת עוֹלָם֙ לְדֹרֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם כָּכֶ֛ם כַּגֵּ֥ר יִהְיֶ֖ה לִפְנֵ֥י יְהוָֽה׃
Bagi jemaah, hanya ada satu ketetapan, baik bagimu maupun bagi pendatang yang tinggal bersamamu; itulah ketetapan untuk selama-lamanya, turun-temurun. Sebagaimana kamu, demikian pula pendatang itu di hadapan Yang Mahakekal.
Ibn Ezra
if anyone sins by mistakenly doing something that is prohibited, and punishable either by karet or by flogging anyone includes both the native born and the convert, as it is written [Numbers 15:15]. Scripture now goes into the details, beginning with the High Priest (i.e., the kohen who is anointed).
Rabbeinu Bahya
וישלח את נערי בני ישראל, “He sent the youths of the Children of Israel, etc.” These were the firstborn. The reason the Torah refers to them as נערי, “youths of,” is that they were ritually pure, ready to perform sacrificial service. They had never committed a sin, had not had sexual intercourse with a woman. This is what our sages said in Berachot 43 when they described that in the future these בחורי ישראל, “young men of the Jewish people,” who had never committed any sin would exude a fragrance like that of the Lebanon. They based this on Hoseah 14,7: “His beauty shall be like the olive tree’s, his fragrance like that of the Lebanon.” With the bringing of this sacrifice the covenant signifying the giving of the Torah was concluded. There were three separate occasions when the Israelites were committed through conclusion of a covenant.
One was circumcision; the second was immersion in a ritual bath; the third is the offering of a communal sacrifice. The circumcision occurred prior to the Exodus from Egypt. All of them had first been circumcised as we know from the fact that they could not eat the Passover unless they had been circumcised. We also have a specific verse in Joshua 5,5 stating that all the Israelite males who had departed from Egypt had been circumcised.
Immersion in a ritual bath was part of the process of sanctification commanded by G’d in 19,10. The offering of a communal sacrifice is what is referred to in our verse. When someone wishes to convert to Judaism he must fulfill all these three rituals. This is based on the Torah comparing natural-born Jews to newly converted Jews when it wrote in Numbers 15,15 ככם כגר, “one teaching for you as well as for the proselyte.” The Jewish court is obligated to administer and supervise circumcision and ritual bath of the converts. When the Temple will be rebuilt, each convert will then offer his sacrifice to complete the procedure of his conversion (Maimonides Hilchot Issurey Biah 13,5).
Our sages in Yevamot 47 state that prior to circumcision and ritual bath the proselyte receives instruction in some of the laws of the Torah, especially those dealing with the various tithes imposed by the Torah on the Jewish farmer. One also makes such a proselyte familiar with the penalties he incurs for violating laws of the Torah. The reason is that the mixed multitude who joined the Jewish people as converts at the time of the Exodus were the ones who initiated the sin of the golden calf. They were also the cause of the death of 14,000 Israelites on the occasion when the people had demanded meat after expressing their dissatisfaction with the manna diet (Numbers 11,4). The Torah had described the instigators of that affair as האספסוף, ‘the collection of rabble.” The Talmud Yevamot 43 adds that the absorption of proselytes is a very difficult task for Israel, as difficult to stomach as ספחת, psoriasis, as we know from Isaiah 14,1 ונספחו על בית ישראל, “and strangers shall join them and cleave to the House of Yaakov.” The reason that these proselytes are so hard to absorb is that their inexperience with Jewish laws and customs produces the result that Jews learn from their customs instead of vice versa.
One was circumcision; the second was immersion in a ritual bath; the third is the offering of a communal sacrifice. The circumcision occurred prior to the Exodus from Egypt. All of them had first been circumcised as we know from the fact that they could not eat the Passover unless they had been circumcised. We also have a specific verse in Joshua 5,5 stating that all the Israelite males who had departed from Egypt had been circumcised.
Immersion in a ritual bath was part of the process of sanctification commanded by G’d in 19,10. The offering of a communal sacrifice is what is referred to in our verse. When someone wishes to convert to Judaism he must fulfill all these three rituals. This is based on the Torah comparing natural-born Jews to newly converted Jews when it wrote in Numbers 15,15 ככם כגר, “one teaching for you as well as for the proselyte.” The Jewish court is obligated to administer and supervise circumcision and ritual bath of the converts. When the Temple will be rebuilt, each convert will then offer his sacrifice to complete the procedure of his conversion (Maimonides Hilchot Issurey Biah 13,5).
Our sages in Yevamot 47 state that prior to circumcision and ritual bath the proselyte receives instruction in some of the laws of the Torah, especially those dealing with the various tithes imposed by the Torah on the Jewish farmer. One also makes such a proselyte familiar with the penalties he incurs for violating laws of the Torah. The reason is that the mixed multitude who joined the Jewish people as converts at the time of the Exodus were the ones who initiated the sin of the golden calf. They were also the cause of the death of 14,000 Israelites on the occasion when the people had demanded meat after expressing their dissatisfaction with the manna diet (Numbers 11,4). The Torah had described the instigators of that affair as האספסוף, ‘the collection of rabble.” The Talmud Yevamot 43 adds that the absorption of proselytes is a very difficult task for Israel, as difficult to stomach as ספחת, psoriasis, as we know from Isaiah 14,1 ונספחו על בית ישראל, “and strangers shall join them and cleave to the House of Yaakov.” The reason that these proselytes are so hard to absorb is that their inexperience with Jewish laws and customs produces the result that Jews learn from their customs instead of vice versa.
English Explanation of Mishnah Menachot
All the offerings of the congregation and of the individual require libations except the first-born animal, the cattle tithe of cattle, the pesah, the hatat and the asham; But the hatat and the asham of the one with skin disease do require libations.
This mishnah teaches that most sacrifices must be accompanied by the libations of wine, grain and oil that are mentioned in Numbers 15.
Numbers 15 states, “When you enter the land that I am giving you to settle in and would present an offering by fire to the Lord from the herd or the flock, be it burnt offering or sacrifice, in fulfillment of a vow explicitly uttered, or as a freewill offering or at your fixed occasions…” The chapter then goes on to list how much wine, oil and grain must accompany each sacrifice.
From here the rabbis derive that freewill offerings such as the olah, the shelamim and the todah require libations. So too do the communal offerings offered on the festivals. However, mandated offerings, such as the first-born, the tithe, the pesah, the hatat (sin-offering) and the asham (guilt-offering) do not need to be accompanied by oil, wine and grain.
The two exceptions are the hatat and the asham offerings brought by a person with skin disease. Leviticus 14:10 explicitly states, “On the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish, one ewe lamb in its first year without blemish, three-tenths of a measure of choice flour with oil mixed in for a meal offering, and one log of oil.” One of these lambs is a guilt offering and one is a sin-offering.
This mishnah teaches that most sacrifices must be accompanied by the libations of wine, grain and oil that are mentioned in Numbers 15.
Numbers 15 states, “When you enter the land that I am giving you to settle in and would present an offering by fire to the Lord from the herd or the flock, be it burnt offering or sacrifice, in fulfillment of a vow explicitly uttered, or as a freewill offering or at your fixed occasions…” The chapter then goes on to list how much wine, oil and grain must accompany each sacrifice.
From here the rabbis derive that freewill offerings such as the olah, the shelamim and the todah require libations. So too do the communal offerings offered on the festivals. However, mandated offerings, such as the first-born, the tithe, the pesah, the hatat (sin-offering) and the asham (guilt-offering) do not need to be accompanied by oil, wine and grain.
The two exceptions are the hatat and the asham offerings brought by a person with skin disease. Leviticus 14:10 explicitly states, “On the eighth day he shall take two male lambs without blemish, one ewe lamb in its first year without blemish, three-tenths of a measure of choice flour with oil mixed in for a meal offering, and one log of oil.” One of these lambs is a guilt offering and one is a sin-offering.